Building a Digital Luxury Brand

Studiya Safarova is designing the business model, digital and e-commerce management system, and product and customer experience journey for a new luxury brand. The entire process is being documented and streamed, and The Strategy Media Group is an investor in the business.

The series begins when Tatiana’s father asks for her decision on joining the family business. He suggests Tatiana take a few months away for a vacation, think about her future and at least consider returning to the family business. Despite a strong family relationship, Tatiana is concerned that she will never step out of her father’s long shadow if she does not do so at this very moment.

The window for change is also closing fast. If she returns to the family business, she would need to commit at least 3-4 years to making a meaningful contribution. That will push her past the age of 30 at which point changing her career will be even more difficult, given possibility of marriage and potentially children.

The opportunity costs get higher and higher with each passing year.

Since this is a live series, with episodes posted as they are produced, we cannot predict what will happen. We may fail. We begin with no designs, no designer, no theme, no target market, no website, no distribution, no e-commerce system, no material, no sourcing, no presence in the world’s fashion capitals and very little capital for a sector that eats it.

We will attack the problem with a radically different strategy, because that is what we will need to do to survive. Yet, we will also pay stunning attention to detail when it comes to the product and brand because execution is the most essential element.

We plan to unpack, dismantle and reassemble every single assumption in this sector. This is really and truly about building a great product. Unsurprisingly, a complex task requiring a blending of design, form, function and R&D.

Building a luxury brand is not all fashion shows, champagnes, A-list events and first class travel. That is the outcome of harnessing the chemistry (yes, actual chemistry with beakers and flasks), automating highly mechanical processes and meticulously sourcing pure raw material from a very special lamb in Italy.

We plan to use an unusual approach to technology, the law, procurement, design, especially marketing etc. to upend a sector that believes it is immune to change.